Bridging binaries: an ethnographic enquiry into student and teacher perceptions of good teaching beyond the presumed dichotomy between ‘teacher-centred and learner-centred’ pedagogies under the K to 12 reform in the Philippines

© 2019 Dr. Julie Lucille H. del ValleIn the face of international comparisons and global standards of ‘quality education’, the Philippines overhauled its national curriculum as part of its reform of public school education. This curriculum reform advocated for an adoption of Learner-Centered Education (LCE) as a ‘best teaching practice’, in this following pedagogical reforms from Western nations. This policy however placed learner-centered teaching in binary opposition with ‘teacher-centered’ instruction, creating a simplistic dichotomy between good and bad teaching. This study seeks to explore this dichotomy by investigating what students and teachers understand to constitute good teaching. The study takes a cultural lens and uses ethnographic methods to investigate with teacher and student participants in two junior high school classes in the Philippines—one an inner urban disadvantaged public school and the other located in a poor rural community. Data gathered over a period of one month in each school include classroom observation, student focus groups, and teacher interviews. The study illuminates the subtle cultural elements which shape what is valued as good teaching. Findings show that the classroom practices which are perceived as most helpful by both students and teachers are predominantly ‘teacher-centered’ instructional practices, particularly those which highlight the authoritative role of a teacher as one who equips students for academic success. Such value placed on teacher authority reflects the cultural respect for teachers in the Philippines. While teachers were observed to uphold their classroom authority and practise teacher-centered methods, they also strongly demonstrated acts of relational care for their students. These enactments were perceived as academic care by students and seen to support their priorities to complete school and fulfil their aspiration to help their families upon graduation. These post-school priorities were shaped by the differing socio-economic and cultural expectations of their urban and rural communities. The thesis posits that the Filipino valuing of malasakit (which roughly translates to a deep sense of personal and compassionate care) and pakikisama (maintaining smooth interpersonal relationships within a community) as manifested through caring student-teacher relationships provides an important orientation towards understanding how learner-centered approaches could be articulated for the Filipino context. This form of ‘academic caring’ enacts the cultural values upheld within local places, and offers a practice which bridges the presumed binary between learner-centered and teacher-centered instruction